“Calamity of Desire, huh? Quite the strange name, to be honest. I’d like to see how she’d fight two modern Wanderpanzers.”

- Excerpt from Lieutenant Hans Hoffman’s Journal Entries.

+++

+++ Lieutenant Hans Hoffman +++

Near Rignon

AUG 30, 1538 CE

It’s raining again…

The pools of rainwater splashed upwards as the fast-moving legs of Hans’ Wanderfalke ran over it. Behind his mech, Adelyn’s Wanderadler sped forward, as the two raced through the abandoned town. It was only a few dozen kilometers north of Rignon, and it was to be the first town that they had visited.

Gone were the people. The soldiers. The merchants. Everyone. Hans deduced that it must have been a hasty evacuation, considering the chaotic remnants on the streets. There were wagons, abandoned. Food stalls, still filled to the brim with grain and produce. Even the few clothing stores seemed to have been hastily looted.

But Hans and Adelyn didn’t mind it, speeding further and further throughout the town until they reached the center. Just then, three horses stopped in front of them. Hans looked at Laura’s hand signals as she pulled her horse to the side—no sighting.

He sighed.

“Alright, let’s get to the next one,” Adelyn said.

“Copy, Captain.”

The trio on horseback dispersed at once, and Hans and Adelyn followed, driving straight out through the main road to exit the town. Above them, the rain clouds turned the afternoon ever darker, as the downpour intensified. How would those using powder fight in these conditions? Hans thought, but he stowed it away to the deepest part of his mind, as they drove out straight into the countryside’s dirt roads.

In just a few dozen minutes, they entered another town. Just as abandoned as the last one. They drove and drove, with Hans and Adelyn taking different routes to comb through the settlement, until they reached the center, and drifted to a stop.

“Nothing’s on my end.”

“Me too.”

He heard Adelyn sigh loudly.

“This is getting more and more dangerous.”

“At this point, I’m going to believe the infiltration idea,” Hans said. “She most likely is inside the city itself.”

He watched as Adelyn popped her hatch open, exposing herself to the rain outside. Hans stayed in his mech, his turret turning left and right to act as overwatch, while Adelyn went straight into a poster nailed into a door of a local church. He heard her speak through her radio after she read it.

“Seems like the new Viceroy ordered a mass evacuation from outlying towns into fortified cities,” Adelyn said. “The edict was given out…just yesterday.”

“That means many must still be moving out toward the cities,” Hans said, crossing his arms. “Let’s try to intercept some of the refugees coming into Rignon then. See if they have something weird going on with them.”

“Mhm…someone notified me on the magic tablet about Rignon’s status. They’re still fine over there.” Adelyn said as she walked back to her mech. “So that means that it wasn’t attacked yet.”

“Well, we wouldn’t know, what if she’s just biding her time?”

“The Duke sent a few battalions to check in and comb through the city,” Adelyn said, pulling her hatch up and entering back inside her mech. “So that’s them covering the city search problem. Us? We’ll continue with our job. If the towns are out and evacuated, we should focus on the roads and the lines of refugees.”

“I suck at interrogating people,” Hans said. “If we’d have to go on foot to comb through them, maybe I should start getting in on the whole skill upgrades thing. Hmm…you already upgraded yours, right?”

“Yeah? I spent mine on ‘Act: Wrath of the Law’,” Adelyn said. “It’s now at Tier II, and also I unlocked ‘Act: Ray of Light’, something about a powerful basic skill spell against demons. It requires…too much AP though. So it’s kinda awkward…I don’t know if I can use it…yet…”

“Oh…” Hans said, checking his open skill slots for once. I haven’t chosen one because I’ve been fighting on my mech. He thought it’d be pointless to rush for it. “I’ll just check on mine.”

+++

[ACT: ONE SHOT, ONE KILL]

Description

Allows the user to fire a high-powered shot from his firearms. The singular shot would deal at least sixfold damage to the target.

Tier I: Shot damage increases by at least six folds. Costs twenty AP per shot. Specialized shots (Incendiary/Explosive) have twice the AP cost.

[ACT: LIARS DETECT LIARS]

Description

When activated, the positions of hostile entities within a ten-meter radius are revealed to the user.

Tier I: The range of detection is ten meters. Costs twenty AP per minute upon activation.

+++

Not a single one of them is an open skill! Even now I still can’t use actual magic like her!

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Wait…”

Hans looked back at the second one. Okay, that looks like it’s a worse version of my ‘Eye of Paranoia’ upgrade. But then, he supposed it made sense. One was an enchantment type of shtick for his mech’s sensors to depict demons. Another would be a skill that his body itself would be doing to magically detect something.

“I just…had a skill out here,” Hans said. “It’s called ‘Liars Detect Liars’. Says I can detect any hostile entities within ten meters from me upon activation. That demon counts as a hostile entity, so I guess I’ll take this now.”

“Liars detect liars? Quite the title, huh?”

“I guess the ‘system’ just likes to make fun of me,” Hans chuckled nervously. “I get all the bad titled skills and upgrades and you get the angelic ones. Kinda unfair.”

“Err…well…”

“Anyway, I think we’d be doing your idea then,” Hans said. “I got two skill slots so I’m taking both of these. Then, ugh…let’s move out. And find her. I’ll activate this when needed while we interrogate people, and maybe we’ll find the Calamity of Desire that way.”

“But that requires you to be ten meters from her.”

Hans felt his heart sink.

“You're right…”

He shook his head.

“Well, I can also do ‘Eye of Paranoia’ if need be,” Hans said. “So maybe I can just drive past a refugee group?”

“Yeah, you can try that.”

“Yeah, that might work too,” Hans said. “I’m still taking this for redundancy’s sake. I would never know when I might be outside of my mech and need something to…find demons hiding. Better safe than sorry, I guess.”

“Yeah…”

+++

The two continued their mad drive through the countryside as the ongoing rain intensified above them. Hans was already bleeding through his AP as he kept the ‘Eye of Paranoia’ upgrade activated for his mech, each hour passing by on their search slowly whittling down his limited reserves.

Something which he knew he’d need soon for his ammunition, fuel, and repairs.

Still…none of that matters until we find that thing.

Hans was determined wholly to that singular quest.

Just…find it. And kill it.

But even with his mech’s protection, and the power it held, as the day wore on, he felt his grip on his controls slowly becoming more nervous. Why, he asked himself. Yet he had no proper answers. He told himself that if death would be inevitable…he’d be prepared for it.

But…

“We got a line of civilians up ahead of us!” Adelyn shouted. Hans nodded, and confirmed it, as he was leading the pack.

“I know. We’ll just do a quick pass by, then I’ll try to personally check on them on foot. You cover me.”

Adelyn immediately peeled off, as the group of civilians on wagons and carriages looked at Hans’ mech, speeding past them. Hans checked his tactical map, nothing, nothing at all indicated that there was a demonic entity on this convoy. He pulled his mech to a stop right in front of the refugees, blocking them.

Pulling out his pistol and SMG, he opened his hatch and jumped down.

“Everyone!” He shouted. “I’m of the Imperial Army. I am here for an impromptu inspection of all of you!”

“Sir Soldier,” an older man, who dismounted his wagon, removed his hat as he approached him. “We are but townsfolk fleeing the great demons of the north. The Madame Viceroy has given us the order that all of us shall seek refuge in our walled cities. So we're here.”

“I understand,” Hans said, looking at the group of civilians ahead of them. “I’ll just check and then I’ll let you go on.”

“We hold nothing but women and children, and the elderly,” the old man said. “We are no rebels or anything…and we have no supplies to offer…”

“I never said you are.”

Hans walked past him, checking the terrified civilians one by one. He took a deep breath, activating his skill, and suddenly, his vision changed. When he got close to people, they had this light blue glow on them.

I assume then that anything out of the ordinary would be a demon.

He continued walking. There were boys, girls, young children, their mothers, and some old sickly men amongst them. Most likely because the men were either pressed into service to fight or work. Many were covered in thick clothes to hide from the cold and rain. Hans felt pity for these people, but there wasn’t much they could do to help them. And it sucked that they probably were making things worse now.

One of them was particularly jumpy, a middle-aged woman who Hans noticed was hiding a knife behind her, all while her two kids huddled near her.

He backed away a bit.

“Calm down,” he said. “I’m not doing anything, Ma’am.”

“You Imperials are crazy goons,” the woman said, her eyes accusatory. “You all ransacked our village months ago.”

Hans couldn’t say much about that. He just backed off and continued, until he reached the end. He looked down at the ground, as the droplets of water fell. Nothing.

“Alright!” He shouted at them. “You will all move on now! There is no—”

He noticed something. Someone, inside one of the wagons, wearing a thick and raggedy white cloak, had a red glow. She was inside a wagon that contained a bunch of children, conveniently hidden away. And upon seeing it, Hans’ guts turned down.

It’s….

He couldn’t say anything, and the civilians all looked at him in surprise, his eyes wide agape in fear. No words came out, as he backed down a bit.

Should, should I…

The person with the cloak turned their head to him—no, it was a she, and her eyes, red as fire, glinted as she stared at him.

She knows.

She knows!

Hans backed further, still muted, as he looked back at the civilians. He wanted to raise his gun, straight at that woman, and drag her away from the children inside the wagon, but he knew, a demon hiding amongst them, it would be the death of them, and him.

He was frozen in place.

“She…” he croaked, as he pointed at the strange woman. “W-who is she?”

“You ingrate! She’s a poor woman who survived a demonic encounter! How dare you set your eyes upon someone who suffered that way?” An older woman said, placing herself between Hans and the carriage. The children all turned their heads at the commotion, but the woman looked back down. “You Imperials are animals!”

Before he could respond, his radio buzzed.

“Lieutenant, back out now,” Adelyn said. “They’re becoming agitated.”

“Captain, I think I…”

“I know,” Adelyn said. “Get the hell out of there now and drive back to me. We’ll figure things out. Get out. GET OUT!”

Hans, hearing the authoritative voice of his commander, immediately obeyed and scurried back to his vehicle. The civilians, clearly distrustful of Imperial authorities, all looked at him with scorn as he ran away. I probably shouldn’t have declared myself as one of them. Hans nervously thought as he climbed back on his mech. How can we even separate these people from her? They’re going to die!

He immediately pulled his mech on a reverse drive, opening the path for the wagons to continue onward, as he retreated to Adelyn’s position. He had no idea what to do next.